Calendars

I have now received the Ooters 2022 calendars from the printers.

The cost is £7 per calendar and I'll have them with me from tomorrow (Wed 1st Dec).

Some images from The Dumfries House Walk

Enjoyed your photographs Jimmy. A very complete record of our walk.

 

Arrangements for Wed 1st Dec.

  Meet in the car park in Cumnock opposite the Knockroon development at 9.45.a.m. The Magical Mystery Tour will commence to suit the weather conditions.

Irvine to Barassie

Alan, Allan, Billy, Davie C, Davie Mc, Dougie, Gus, Hugh, Jim, Johnny, Kenny R, Kenny T, Malcolm, Robert

The start of the return leg

For various reasons this was to be a short walk today, well, shorter than normal, and we were blessed with a dry blustery morning as we assembled at Irvine shore.  Anxious to get underway, we started a few minutes before ten, not realising that Jim and the two Kennys had just arrived. They caught up quickly though. It was good to have Alan and Kenny T back with us and we were also glad to see Isla (Derval Davie’s wee dug) joining us on a walk for the first time.

The walk along the beach to Barassie, in good conditions, took us an hour. It was decided to stop beside the Scottish Water building to have coffee rather than continue up to the benches, a rather strange decision as there was no more shelter from the breeze there than at the benches. Davie and Isla, however, stuck to tradition.

Fifteen minutes later and we were off on the return leg with Isla still chasing the ball she had found, and in a very Holly-like fashion. The skies darkened about halfway along and we got a few minutes of light rain before it cleared up again. We were pretty strung out towards the end of the walk with those at the front reaching the cars a good ten minutes ahead of those at the rear, with the backmarkers arriving back at twenty past twelve.

This had been a good walk (6 miles) with the cobwebs having been blown away in the November sunshine.

FRT, for eight of us, was taken in Wetherspoon’s, where a relaxing hour and a half was spent.

Isla in her element

The backmarkers

Arrangements for Wednesday 24th November.

 The proposed walk is Corsencon near New Cumnock. If the forecast is O.K. meet in the station car park  New Cumnock around about 10.00.a.m. 

If wet or stormy meet in the Knockroon car park around about 9.45a.m. ( This car park is opposite Da Vinci’s cafe .)We can decide then on a walk suitable for the forecast.

Cumbrae

 

Cumbrae 10 November

Allan, Billy, Davie C, Davie Mc, Gus, Hugh, Jim, Jimmy, Johnny, Kenny R, Paul, Rex, Robert

The journey up to Largs promised blue skies and late autumn sunshine, but Largs itself was covered in cloud and there was some light drizzle as we awaited the 10.15am ferry. However, by the time we reached Cumbrae all was well, the weather soon picked up and we were blessed with fine dry conditions for our walk which started by the familiar trek from the slipway up to the Glaid Stone for coffee. Fifteen pleasant minutes were spent here before continuing down into Millport where most took lunch in the Garrison*.

Davie Mc, Hugh, Kenny, and Paul decided, however, to walk a bit further before taking their pieces and that was the last the main group saw of them until meeting up at the slipway. The walk up the far side of the island seems to get longer as the years go by, not helped by the fact that we had to quicken the pace as we approached the monument when we saw the ferry leave Largs. Anyway, we all made the ferry at 2.45pm and were back in Largs before we knew it.

Having covered 10 miles today we enjoyed FRT at Drouthy Neebors.

*At the Garrison, Davie C not only had a plate of soup but a breakfast roll containing two pieces of black pudding and a tattie scone. He indicated that he had not put any sauce on his roll to the consternation of others so, as we walked up the road, a heated debate took place as to what sauce should be put on what filling. As Shakespeare once said ‘HP or not HP? That is the question’.

Calendar

 For those not present yesterday this is what was agreed.

Assuming I can get calendars printed at a reasonable cost (less than £10) I will order one for each of the Ooters. If anyone does not want one or wants more than one let me know asap. 

Arrangements for Wednesday 17th Nov.

 Meet in  Irvine beach car park at 10.00.a.m. The walk is Irvine to Barassie and return.

Date for your diary - Wed 15th Dec Ooters Christmas Curry in the Jewel , Kilmarnock. Time 7.00.p.m.

After phone calling all not present in the pub after the walk today I got virtually 100% response . There will be 19/20 persons present with Peter the only one not able to give a guarantee that he will be able to attend. The Jewel accepted the booking as detailed above.

3 November Falls of Clyde

                Superlatives are often overused now-a-days particularly by our popular media. This blog may well follow that trend of being filled with superlatives for this was a day for such. Last week we decided to venture into the Clyde Valley for some autumn colour. We were not to be disappointed. After a night’s frost the air was clear, the sun was bright and the trees held the autumnal hues that we had hoped for. All that we wanted for the day was coming together as we, all fourteen of us, assembled on the old bridge at Kirkfiedbank for our usual trip around the Falls of Clyde. Even before we started our walk, we were treated to one of nature’s marvels as the trees on the opposite side glowed in the early November sun in a pallet of yellows, browns and greens. Superb.

               Around ten thirty we crossed the bridge to the right bank of the Clyde only to be stopped temporarily by the chap with the camera. Jimmy had already spoken to him. He had been photographing the kingfisher that had just streaked off down the river and he was pleased to show us the results of his endeavours.

               Now we followed the Clydeside walkway. The short drop to the side of the river was followed by a pulse-raising climb to the outskirts of Lanark and Castlebank Park. Whoever thinks that riverside walking is level wants to follow the Clydeside walkway. From the park the pathway drops steeply in a series of zig-zags to the riverside again. We dropped with the path and for a short time it ran flat through sun-dappled woodland. An enjoyable section. Then came another climb, a steep climb, a step assisted climb, a lung-burning climb to a viewpoint high above the river looking out to New Lanark. Here we halted, partly to recover from the latest climb and partly to take in the view. And what a view it was. From high above the river, we could look upstream to see the low sun light up the sandstone walls of New Lanark and the autumn tinted trees surrounding them. Magnificent.

A short drop and a short climb brought us into the village itself. Here we halted once more - this time for a seat and refreshment. We dallied longer then usual over coffee for it was a day for such things and it was a peaceful place to sit.  Nothing could be heard but the roaring of the river as it surged through the gorge. And, of course, the blether of the Ooters. But needs must and we dragged ourselves away from New Lanark and entered the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Falls of Clyde Reserve.

       For the next quarter of a mile the walk was through more dappled woodland and then on boardwalk beside the full river. At the power station the path climbed again into the wood, eventually topping out at a viewpoint overlooking Corra Linn. Now the cameras and camera phones were out in earnest for this was sight to behold. The full force of the spating river crashed its way through tree covered banks in full autumn glory before hurtling itself over the linn into the gorge twenty metres below. Breath-taking magnificence. Ten minutes of trying to capture such a grand scene on a variety of devices and we were off again.

               Up though the autumn woodland again and the next photo opportunity came at the next waterfall, Bonnington Linn. Another ten-minute halt for some. We crossed the river by the barrage above the linn and came back down the other side of it. We sopped for lunch at the viewpoint looking back to the falls. More photo opportunities. Again, we sat longer than usual for who would want to rush away from the glory of the scene. Never have we, as a group, seen the river in such a spate nor seen the falls in such magnificent raw power. So we sat and absorbed the scene before us. Spectacular.

               The rest of the walk was through sun dappled, autumn tinted trees down the river by Corra Castle. Though this section was just as long as the first part and was excellent in its own way, it couldn’t compete with the sights we had already seen and it was a steady walk back down the riverside to the finishing point at Kirkfieldbank.

 

Only one word can be used for today’s walk – FABULOUS.

 

FRT was taken in the Black Bull in Darvel.

              

              

Arrangements for Wednesday 10th November.

 Meet by the Gogo burn in Largs at 10.00.a.m. on the dot. The Millport Ferry departs at 10.15.a.m. sharp.There should be the option of lunch in the Garrison for anyone wishing to do so. F.R.T. Can be accessed in the Drouthy Neibours in Largs.